Factors Influencing Physician Assistant Student Attrition Rates.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess factors that influence student well-being and attrition and to compare faculty perceptions to the realities of student experience.

Methods: Three anonymous online surveys were distributed, one for each group of currently enrolled students, faculty/staff, and attritted students.

Results: Faculty estimated that an average of 12.

The Relationship Between Pedagogy and Changes in Students' Learning Styles in Physician Assistant Education.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between instructional pedagogy and changes in physician assistant (PA) students' learning styles during a 2-year master's program.

Methods: Two parallel curricular tracks were established in the didactic year, one using problem-based learning (PBL) and the other lecture-based learning (LBL) for 6 years. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was administered to both groups at matriculation and at the end of the first and second years.

Charting the Course for Online Physician Assistant Education.

The move to online learning has become one of the most challenging events in physician assistant (PA) education; however, new advances in online technology now make it possible to deliver an entire PA didactic curriculum online. The blending of the latest innovations in online technology with a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum enables programs to engage students using the Socratic method online while providing feedback in real time. While this novel approach to learning is still being evaluated as data is continually collected, preliminary results indicate online technology can be successfully implemented in a blended PA education curriculum.

The Effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Physician Assistant Educators.

Purpose: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has presented physician assistant (PA) educators with unprecedented challenges in delivering content remotely with minimal time to develop new pedagogical strategies. We surveyed faculty about their experience during the early weeks of adapting to these new instructional techniques.

Methods: An anonymous quantitative and qualitative survey was distributed to all individuals registered by programs as Physician Assistant Education Association members.

The Rise of Technology: Testing the Limits of Curriculum Innovation.

Medical training programs are being pulled between the desire to make content engaging and personalized and the necessity to deliver copious amounts of detailed information rapidly. This project replaced traditional lectures with a virtual 3D cardiac model (ShareCare YOU) in attempts to boost student engagement while maintaining academic rigor.

Training to Proficiency in the WHO Hand Hygiene Technique.

Objectives: Hand hygiene is critical to patient safety, but low performance in terms of the quantity and quality of hand hygiene is often reported. Training-to-proficiency is common for other clinical skills, but no proficiency-based training program for hand hygiene has been reported in the literature. This study developed a proficiency-based training program to improve hand hygiene quality in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and assessed the amount of training required to reach proficiency.

Is Student Stress Related to Personality or Learning Environment in a Physician Assistant Program?

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to study the impact of students' personalities and 2 different learning environments-lecture-based learning (LBL) and problem-based learning (PBL)-on the stress perceived by 5 cohorts of physician assistant (PA) students.

Methods: Students rated their stress related to family obligations, financial concerns, schoolwork, relocation, and overall stress on 6 occasions over the course of the 2-year program. Personalities of students were assessed using the California Psychological Inventory 7 months into the program.

A Comparison of Students' Perceptions of Stress in Parallel Problem-Based and Lecture-Based Curricula.

Purpose: A 6-year longitudinal study was conducted to compare the perceived stress experienced during a 2-year master's physician assistant program by 5 cohorts of students enrolled in either problem-based learning (PBL) or lecture-based learning (LBL) curricular tracks. The association of perceived stress with academic achievement was also assessed.

Methods: Students rated their stress levels on visual analog scales in relation to family obligations, financial concerns, schoolwork, and relocation and overall on 6 occasions throughout the program.

A comparison of student knowledge acquisition by organ system and skills in parallel problem-based and lecture-based curricula.

Purpose: A 5-year longitudinal study was conducted of students' acquisition of knowledge by organ system and skill development between two curricular tracks: problem-based learning (PBL) and lecture-based learning (LBL). Analysis of these data is reported.

Methods: A comprehensive examination was administered to all students enrolled in the LBL and PBL curricular tracks on five occasions: 0, 4, 8, 12, and 24 months.

Admission variables as predictors of PANCE scores in physician assistant programs: a comparison study across universities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create a model of cognitive and noncognitive measures that could estimate the probability of achieving a given level of performance on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE).

Methods: A retrospective records review of admissions information used by six universities was conducted to discover which factor had the most impact on the dependent variable of the PANCE score. Multiple predictors were measured: undergraduate grade point average (uGPA), graduate GPA, prerequisite grades, Graduate Record Exam (GRE)-verbal, GRE-quantitative, GRE combined, interview scores, years of health care experience, age, gender, and first-year scores on the Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT).

A novel approach to ranking physician assistant programs.

Purpose: US News & World Report (US News) is the only known media publication that ranks physician assistant (PA) educational programs. In 2007 US News ranked only 73 schools based on a subjective survey of PA school faculty and administration. This study presents a new approach to the ranking of graduate PA programs.

Resource use by physician assistant services versus teaching services.

Objective: To compare resource use in physician assistant (PA) services versus teaching services for 5 medical diagnostic groups in a large community teaching hospital, while controlling for attending physician.

Methods: The sample was drawn from an administrative database of patients admitted to an internal medicine service in which attending physicians' cases rotated between the PA and teaching services on a preassigned schedule. Diagnoses included in the study were stroke (diagnosis-related group [DRG] 014), pneumonia (DRG 089), acute myocardial infarction (DRG 122), congestive heart failure (DRG 127), and gastrointestinal hemorrhage (DRG 174).